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Eluveitie – Evocation II – Pantheon (Folk Metal)

Folk metal giants Eluveitie have always been a favorite of mine. They may have some ups and downs during their career (who doesn’t?) but overall it is one of the best folk metal acts out there. A big core of the band left to form Cellar Darling so I was a bit skeptical on how the sequel to Evocation I – The Arcane Dominion would turn out. With Evocation II – Pantheon the band have decided to change their style, going way closer to folk than never before and almost on the verge of not really being metal anymore. Personally I love this move. I can listen to their instrumental plays all day long and not get bored. It’s so well executed and makes me feel good. The Celtic folk melodies warms the soul. With the lineup changes I think this was the perfect time to make this change of sound as well.

Does this album contain classics like The Call of the Mountains, Inis Mona, A Rose for Epona or Helvetios? No it doesn’t but instead you get an album that on the whole is a wonderful folk metal experience that I am sure you will listen to time and time again. This isn’t an album where you just pick a song from it for your playlist (granted Lvgvs and Epona could be those). It’s an album you listen to all the 18 tracks at once and take it all in. As I said before I like the direction Eluveitie have taken and this just feels so right. This might just be the folk metal album of the year, at the very least it will be up there in the running for it when I look back at 2017 (I do guess Ensiferum will take that title to be honest). It might not be what you wanted from Eluveitie but give it some time and listen to this with a different mindset than before and I am sure you can come to enjoy it like I did.